PwC Predicts 1% Annual Growth For The Music Industry

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its latest Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report for 2013 – 2017. PwC predicts an approximate one percent annual rate of growth for the music industry, reaching $53.8 billion in 2017.

“Globally, the music industry is getting back on track: total consumer spending on music in 2012 was $49.9 billion, a slight fall from 2011,” Pricewaterhouse said. “However, annual revenue will start to grow again in 2013, reaching $53.8 million in 2017, a compound annual growth rate of two percent over the forecast period.”

PwC also predicts that digital revenue will surpass physical music sales in 2016, while live music will continue to grow and soar past recorded music revenue in the coming years. PwC expects live music revenue to reach $30.9 billion by 2017.

As for radio, PwC expects global revenue to reach $51 billion over the next five years, but notes that “a number of shifts are occurring. Revenues in North America and Europe will grow more slowly than the more rapid revenue growth taking place in the emerging radio regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa. North America and Europe are the most developed global radio regions in terms of technology, listenership and revenue: in 2012, the two regions combined accounted for 78 percent of all global radio revenue. Although, their combined market share will decline slightly, accounting for 74 percent of global radio revenue by 2017.”

PwC also predicts that North America will continue to account for almost 50 percent of all global radio revenues, generating $24 billion in 2017. Also, satellite subscribers and subscription revenues will continue to grow rapidly, with subscriptions taking 15 percent of all North American radio revenue in 2012 and rising to 20 percent of the region’s revenue in 2017.